Display and dispensing cartons



May 12, 1959 5. J. LEONE DISPLAY AND DISPENSING CARTONS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 22, 1958 FIG. I

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May 12, 1959 s. J. LEONE DISPLAY AND DISPENSING CARTONS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 22. 1958 INV NT R. \fdr imam A TTORNEYS 2,886,232 DISPLAY AND DISPENSING CARTONS Application September 22, 1958, Serial No. 762,508 7 Claims. (Cl. 229-17) This invention relates to folding cartons and resides more particularly in a novel carton for the display and dispensing of small articles, such as individually wrapped mints, sticks of gum, etc. The new carton is made from a single blank of paperboard or like material and the blank can ,be folded and glued to .form a flattened tube which occupies little space and can be conveniently shipped with or in a container for the articles to be displayed and dispensed. At the point of use, the collapsed carton can be quickly set up to provide a holder fora quantity of the articles and the erected carton has a discharge opening in its front .wall near its lower-end and a trough, which receives and holds articles issuing through the opening. The lower end of the carton is closed by inner interlocked bottom flaps and an outer wall, to which the main trough panel vis attached, and means are provided to hold the wall tightly against the flaps. As a result, the carton has a flat bottom and, when placed upon a support such as a counter, is stable and not easily tipped over.

Fora better understanding of the invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is aplan view of a blank for one form of carton embodying theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view in front elevation illustrating one stage in the erection of the carton; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of a modified feature of the carton;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2 showing another stage in the erection of the carton;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the lower end of the erected carton;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view 'on the line 66 of Fig. 5;'and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the discharge opening and the dispensing trough of the carton.

The blank 10 of Fig. -1 is made. of paperboard and it comprises a rear wall 11, a side wall 12, a front wall 13, and a second side wall 14 connected side by side in a series and separated by creaselines 15, 16, and 17. A glue flap 18 is connected along a crease line to the wall at one end of the series and, in the blank shown, the glue flap is secured to the side Wall 14. At its upper end, the blank is provided with means for closing the top of the carton and, in the blank shown, such means include flaps 19, 20 connected along crease lines to the walls 12, 14, respectively, and an outer flap 21 adapted to overlie the inturned flaps 19, 20 and having a tuck flap 22 at its free edge.

A pair of gate flaps 23, 24 are severed from the front wall 13 near its lower end and the flaps are hinged to the forward edges of side walls 12, 14, respectively. The lower edge of the front wall, along which the gate flaps are severed, slopes upwardly at its ends adjacent the crease lines 16 and 17 to provide notches between the edge and the front edges of the side walls 12, 14. The flaps are separated by an irregular cut which produces tongues 23a, 23b at the inner edge of flap 23 and a tongue 2401 at the inner edge of flap 24. The side wall 12 is formed along its rear edge with tongues 12a, 12b defined by U-shaped cuts which cross the fold line 15, so that the tongues extend into the rear wall 11 and slotsare formed in the rear wall adjacent the tongues when that wall lies at right angles to the wall 12. These slots are of a shape and size to receive the tongues 23a, 23b on the gate flap 23. The side wall 14 is provided with a tongue 14a, which is defined by a U-shaped cut crossing the fold line between the wall and the glue flap 18, so that the tongue extends into the glue flap and a slot is formed in the, glue flap adjacent the tongue when the flap lies at right angles to wall 14. The free edge of rear wall 11 is formed with a cutout 11a, which registers with the slot formed adjacent the tongue 14 and the slots 11a and that adjacent the tongue 14 are of a shape and size to receive the tongue 24a on the gate flap24.

, A bottom flap 25 is connected to the lower end of side wall ;12 along acrease line and a similar bottom flap 26 is connected to the lower end of side wall 14 along a crease line. The bottom flaps are formed with cuts 25a, 26a, respectively, so that, when the side walls 12, 14 lie parallel, the flaps can be interlocked at the cuts to form an inner bottom wall.

A bottom wall panel 27 is connected at one end along a crease line to the lower edge of the rear wall 11 and alocking panel 28 is connected along a crease line to the other edge of the bottom wall panel. locking flap 29 is connected along a crease line to the panel 28 and atrough panel 30 is connected along a crease line to the locking panel 29. At its sides, the trough panel 30. is provided with wings 31, 32, which arefoldable in relation to the trough panel and are provided along their outer edges with hooks 31a, 32a, respectively. Both of the locking panels 28, 29 are slightly wider than the bottom wall panel 27.

In the conversion of the blank into a carton, the glue flap 18 is folded to overlie the side wall 14 and glue is applied to the upper surface of the flap. The blank is. then folded on the line 16 to bring the glued surface of flap 18 against the surface of the rear wall 11, so that the flap is secured to the walland the walls define a flattened tube. To erect the glued carton, the tube is squared in the usual way and the bottom flaps 25 and 26 are interlocked at their cuts to form an inner bottom WalL. The gate flaps 23, 24 are then folded inward and the tongues 23a, 23b on flap 23 are inserted in the slots in the rear wall 11 adjacent'the tongues 12a, 12b on the sidewall 12. The tongue 24a on flap 24 is similarly inserted'in the slot 111: formed at the edge of the rear wall and the registering slot formed in the glue flap adjacent the tongue 14. The gate flaps are provided with cutouts 23c, 24b, respectively, in their lower edges and, when the flaps have been folded inwardly to lie against the inner surfaces of the side walls, the lower edges at the cutouts cooperate with the interlocked bottom flap-s 25, 26 to form recesses. In the next operation, the locking'flaps 28, 29 are folded to lie face to face and with the flap 28 overlying the bottom wall panel 27. As the flaps 28, 29 are moved into the position described, the ends of the flaps enter the recesses defined in part by the cutouts 23c, 24b in the gate flaps and hold the locking flaps in such folded position. The wings 31, 32 on the trough panel 30 are now folded inwardly and the panel is swung upwardly along the crease line connecting it to the locking flap 29. The folding inwardly of the gate flaps 23, 24 has provided a discharge opening 33 in the front wall 13 and, as the trough panel is moved upwardly, the free ends of the wings 31, 32 are inserted into the opening and the wings are swung Patented May 12, 1959 A second 7 apart to lie at right angles to the panel 30. In this position of the wings, their upper edges lie within the notches between the forward edges of the side walls 12, 14 and the lower edge of the front wall 13 adjacent its ends and the hooks on the wings engage the inner surface of the front wall 13 and prevent the trough panel from moving back to horizontal position.

When the carton has been erected as described, it can be filled through the top, the trough panel first being swung inwardly to close the discharge opening. After the carton is filled, it is closed by the infolding of flaps 19, 20, and 21 in the usual way. When the carton is to' be put into service, the trough panel is moved out, so that the panel with its wings forms a trough into which the articles in the carton can flow through the discharge opening. As the trough panel is moved either inwardly or outwardly, the upper edges of its wings are guided by the notches at the ends of the lower edge of the front wall and the wings are thus prevented from swinging toward each other. In the erected carton, theouter bottom wall panel 27 is held tightly against the interlocked bottom flaps 25, 26 because of the insertion of the ends of the locking panels 28, 29 in the recesses provided by the cutouts 23c, 24b below the gate flaps 23, 24. As a consequence, the carton is stable and it cannot be easily tipped over.

In some instances, it may be desired to provide the carton with a receptacle in which coins in payment for the articles in the carton can be placed and, for this purpose, the modified blank shown in Fig. 3 may be used. The modified blank is the same in all respects as the blank 10 except that the front wall 13' has an upward extension 34 at its top, over which the coin receptacle can be telescoped.

' I claim:

1. A carton for display and dispensing purposes, which comprises a body formed of front and rear walls connected by side wall-s, means attached to the upper ends of the walls for closing the top of the body, a pair of bottom flaps secured to the lower ends of the side walls and interlocked to form an inner bottom wall, a bottom wall panel secured at its rear edge to the lower end of the rear wall and lying outside the interlocked flaps, a pair of gate flaps severed from the front wall at its lower end and secured along fold lines to the forward edges of respective side walls, the gate flaps being folded inwardly to lie against the inner faces of the side walls, a trough panel, wings at the side edges of the trough panel having free ends entering the discharge opening and engaging the inner surface of the front wall to support the trough panel in inclined position, and means connecting the lower edge of the trough panel to the front edge of the bottom wall panel and holding the wall panel in contact with the interlocked bottom flaps.

2. The carton of claim 1, in which the connecting means include a pair of locking panels connected, respectively, to the front edge of the bottom wall panel and to the lower edge of the trough panel, the locking panels lying face to face and overlying the interlocked bottom flaps.

3. The carton of claim 2, in which the lower edges of the gate flaps are cut away to form recesses and at least one of the locking panels is wider than the front wall and has its ends entering the recesses.

4. The carton of claim 1, in which the lines of junction between the rear and side walls have slots and the gate flaps have tongues at their free ends entering the slots.

5. A blank for a carton for display and dispensing purposes, which comprises a sheet of paperboard cut and creased to provide a rear wall, a side wall, a front wall, a second side wall, the walls being connected in a series, a glue flap connected to the free edge of the wall at one end of the series, flap means secured to the upper ends of the walls and adapted to be secured in overlapping relation to close the top of the carton, a pair of bottom flaps connected to the lower ends of respective side walls and cut to form slits for interlocking engagement of the flaps, a bottom wall panel hinged to the lower edge of the rear wall, a trough panel, a pair of locking panels hinged to each other and to one edge of the trough panel and to the forward edge of the bottom wall panel, respectively, a pair of gate flaps severed from the front wall adjacent its lower end and hinged to the forward edges of the side walls, and a pair of wings hinged to the side edges of the trough panels and having hooks at their ends adapted to engage the inner surface of the front wall, when the gate flaps are swung inwardly out of the plane of the wall.

6. The blank of claim 5, in which the gate flaps have cutouts in their lower edges adapted to form recesses, and at least one of the locking panels is wider than the bottom wall panel and is adapted to have its ends received in the recesses when the gate flaps are folded against the inner surfaces of the side walls.

7. A carton for display and dispensing purposes which comprises a body formed of front and rear walls connected by side walls, means attached to the upper ends of the walls for closing the top of the body, a pair of bottom flaps attached to the lower ends of the sidewalls and interlocked to form an inner bottom wall, an outer bottom wall attached at its rear edge to the lower end of the rear wall and lying outside and wholly concealing the interlocked flaps, a pair of gate flaps severed from the front wall at its lower end along a transverse edge rising at its ends to meet the forward edges of the side walls and forming notches therewith, the gate flaps being secured along fold lines to the forward edges of respective side walls and folded inwardly to lie against the inner faces of the side walls, a trough panel connected along its lower edge to the forward edge of the outer bottom wall panel, and wings connected to and extending rearwardly from the lateral edges of the trough panel and into the interior of the carton below the lower edge of the front wall, the upper edges of the wings lying in the notches at the ends of the lower edge of the front wall and being formed with hooks at the ends of the wings engageable with the inner surface of the front wall to limit the movement of the trough panel away from the plane of the front wall.

No references cited. 

